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A coumarin derivative used in pharmaceutical manufacture (it is said to have venotonic, capillary-strengthening, and antiphlogistic activity). In diagnostic microbiology it is a component of bile esculin agar: Group D streptococci hydrolyse esculin to esculetin and dextrose and the esculetin can be detected by the formation of a blackish-brown coloured complex when it reacts with ferric citrate. Extracted from the bark of flowering ash Fraxinus ornus or the leaves and bark of the horsechestnut tree Aesculus hippocastanum.